Reframing DEI as cultural DNA
A lot of companies don’t give a shit about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Let’s face that. Now we have that in the open, let’s proceed.
In North America, DEI is experiencing extreme pushback in political, educational, and business spaces. In Europe, the modus operandi has been to cherry-pick the parts of DEI that they’re most comfortable with, disregarding anything that relates to race or ethnicity.
And of the private and public sector organisations with DEI policies, few do the work to build business cases or implement other measures for tracking effectiveness and efficacy. I know of instances where DEI has been bolted on to HR and People functions, as a series of box-checking exercises. Worse still is when DEI is set up as a stand-alone function with no budget or sponsorship (influence) from senior executives.
It’s not uncommon for professionals with expertise to find themselves in a situation where the role has been given no framework, direction or context for the organisation they’re operating in. Something that would never happen in other CXO or Senior Manager roles. Of course, the immediate implication to these professionals is something that we’ve been spectating on for a while, termination because the role is no longer economically or operationally relevant. (Because there was no business case!!) But what of the wider, long-term implications to the organisation?
Whether we call it DEI or Justice and Belonging (yep, that’s a thing), many leaders that I have observed don’t understand how essential or relevant a function of the business ecosystem it is.
When writing my book, one of the key messages I wanted to get out was that a leadership ecosystem is at the heart of making better decisions for inclusive leadership. An understanding of a shared approach to the why, the what and the how leadership functions at a cellular level in an organisation. This is then communicated at a level that people understand.
Cultural DNA dictates how you approach DEI
In my coaching with senior executives rarely do we explicitly talk about DEI strategies. Primarily because it is not my area of expertise, but secondarily I believe that it is important to understand the culture (shared beliefs and assumptions) and even before that, the climate (shared perceptions and attitudes) before delving into the intricacies of DEI.
Simple questions you can ask and need to answer as a leader:
What is it that makes our organisation great?
What makes us different?
What commitments do we make to our people?
What commitments do we make to our customers?
The answers to these questions speak to the cultural DNA of the organisation. They reflect what drives and keeps the organisation going and impact all areas, from people to product design to supply chain to compliance to marketing. You get the drift.
No DEI, CSR or ESG can be sustained and effective in an organisation if you don’t understand what you are about.
I have found that leaders who understand those basics will then choose how to onboard or ignore DEI. Not as a response to external pressures but a flow-through of what is happening internally.
